In the packaging art, it is not unusual to require packages which may contain either a single object or, a plurality of such objects, depending upon the manufacturers' sales policy and pricing and the manner in which the products are sold. Sometimes the products are sold singly, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in groups of three or even four.
In the great majority of cases, manufacturers of such products find it necessary to provide specific packages for each product, or multiples of products. This means that packages must be designed either for a single product or for multiples of the product. Separate packages must then be printed up, and the packages must then be assembled with the appropriate products for distribution and sale.
The design and printing of packaging is one of the significant features in the success of the sale of the particular product. Great care, and expense, is involved in designing, manufacturing, and printing an appealing package.
In the particular case of packages containing recordings of audio or visual material, the packaging must be printed up with information specific to the audio or visual recording contained in the package. The aesthetic appeal of such packaging design, and also the amount of detailed information carried on it, all have a significant effect on the successful selling of that product. In the case of such audio and visual recorded material, typically being for example, audio cassette tapes, there is an enormous variety of different material which is published and distributed from time-to-time. Such material ranges from popular music, classical music, fiction and non-fiction, theatrical works, and a wide variety of other audio material which may be recorded and sold at various times.
Tapes in particular may be sold either singly or in pairs or in groups of three or four, depending upon the length and extent of the work being published and sold.
In order to control costs, it is therefore desirable that as far as possible, the printing of such information shall be printed on exterior material which is relatively inexpensive, and can be produced in appropriate numbers at short notice.
On the other hand, in order to permit the use of packaging which can be manufactured in large bulk volumes, to reduce its cost, it is desirable that a liner or interior package may be produced without such printing, and thus may be manufactured in large bulk volume, and stored and used for packaging any work which may be desired to be published on such audio tapes. It is also preferable that such packaging shall be at least adaptable as between packaging for one and two such tapes in the one hand, and as between packaging for three and four such tapes on the other hand. By making such interior liners for such packaging adaptable in this way, and free of printing, it is possible to manufacture them in much larger bulk quantities, for a given time period, and thus reduce the cost of the liners.
In addition to the foregoing, it is also found to be desirable that such liners or interior packages shall be formed in such a way as to securely grip the rectangular objects, in this case, audio cassette boxes, so that they do not shake or move within the package. In practice, this is not always easy to do in the cardboard packaging art. This material is not such that it exhibits any inherent resiliency which might apply an elastic or squeezing pressure to the rectangular object. It is found therefore, that it is somewhat difficult to achieve a tight grip on a rectangular object with a package made of card stock.
A further problem related to the packaging of rectangular objects, particularly when they are relatively small and of relatively considerable value, such as audio cassette tapes, is the matter of in-store display, convenience of selection for purchasers, reducing as far as possible losses due to pilfering, or simply objects becoming mislaid, and also, in-store labelling for pricing inventory control and the like.
In the case of relatively small objects such as audio cassettes, which have a relatively considerable value in relation to their size, all of these problems of in-store control and handling are particularly aggravated. Various different types of in-store packaging systems have been proposed and used in the past, in which larger cardboard packages are used to display audio cassette tapes, and in which customers will carry their purchases to the cash register. In many cases, at the cash register, the store clerk will then remove the cassette tape from the package and the package is then refilled with another tape and placed back on the display. In other cases, the package simply remains packed around the tape, until the customer takes it home. The use of such oversize packages renders problems of handling within the store, somewhat simpler. Larger packaging can easily carry in-store labels giving price information, inventory information and having bar codes printed thereon and the like. Most of these systems are however, used as in-store aids by retailers. Consequently, the retail staff in the store must spend considerable time repackaging objects, such as cassette tapes, in packages in which they are then displayed for sale. Clearly, it is desirable that assuming such oversized packaging is to be used, that it shall be applied by the manufacturer rather than the individual retail outlets. In this way, the economies of large volume manufacture of such packaging and large run printing, can be obtained to the maximum, and at the same time the staff in each retail store will be able to concentrate exclusively on sales.